Michigan
1-1-0
Providence
1-1-0
Nazar Scores Twice as Michigan Splits Season-Opening Series with Providence
10/8/2023 7:43:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Frank Nazar III scored twice to lead the Wolverines to an opening-weekend split.
» Rutger McGroarty led all scorers with four points off of one goal and three assists.
» Sophomores Seamus Casey, Tyler Duke, and TJ Hughes all notched multi-point games.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan ice hockey team held off a late push by No. 18 Providence to earn a series split on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 8) in a 5-4 decision over the Friars at Yost Ice Arena.
Goaltender Jake Barczewski manned the crease for the Maize and Blue in his first start for the Wolverines (1-1-0). He picked up the win by making 22 saves on 26 shots faced.
Michigan opened the scoring for the second-straight night when Gavin Brindley banged a loose puck between the post and the goalie's skate to make it 1-0 just 32 seconds into the contest. Tyler Duke earned his first point as a Wolverine with the primary assist while Rutger McGroarty collected the secondary assist. McGroarty's early helper extended his point streak to 10 games.
Sophomore blue-liner Seamus Casey acted as a one-man breakout to double the lead at 3:12. Classmate T.J. Hughes picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and dumped it back to Casey to regroup in the defensive zone. The smooth-skating defender stickhandled his way through the Friars and once below the dots he flipped a backhand shot into the back of the net and gave Michigan a 2-0 lead. Hughes and Dylan Duke picked up assists on the play for their effort to regain possession of the puck.
Providence (1-1-0)Â took advantage of its third power-play opportunity of the day after Philippe Lapointe was called for interference. The Friars buried a shot from the left circle to make it 2-1 with 5:39 left in the second period.
A post-whistle scrum near Michigan's crease with 1:03 left resulted in the officials sending Brindley to the box for roughing without a matching Friar. Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato quickly challenged the play for head contact that had gone uncalled, and a video review rendered the challenge successful, as Jacob Truscott had taken a check to the head off the glass in the neutral zone. The Providence forward received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.
Playing with four skaters per side for the first two minutes, U-M's Tyler Duke worked the puck down low in the zone before sending a pass behind the net to McGroarty. McGroarty waited for Frank Nazar III, who had paused in the center of the offensive zone, to make a cut toward the net. As soon as he did, McGroarty sent a pass onto Nazar's tape that the sophomore center was able to bury for a 3-1 Michigan lead with 10 seconds left in the second period. McGroarty and Tyler Duke each recorded their second points of the game with the assists on Nazar's first marker of the season.
With 20 minutes left to play, Michigan carried a two-goal lead up the stairs that was fueled by a 25-15 advantage in shots on goal. The Wolverines also led in the faceoff dot, 23-20.
The third period began with 57 seconds of four-on-four play before Brindley would exit the box to initiate U-M's three minutes of power-play time, stemming from the major penalty.
Providence was whistled for another penalty at 3:18 when Jackson Hallum was hooked with 39 seconds left on the major penalty. Michigan embarked on what should have been a short 5x3 advantage, but a Wolverine was cross-checked into the goalpost 37 seconds later to further extend Michigan's two-man advantage.Â
Less than a minute later, McGroarty smashed home U-M's power-play goal of the year from the right dot to make it 4-1 Michigan at 4:52. Assists on the 5x3 power-play goal went to Hughes and Casey.
Play returned to even-strength after all of the remaining power-play time expired at 5:55, with Michigan's power-play unit moving to 1-for-4 on the night.
Sophomore forward Josh Eernisse made his presence felt near the edge of the Providence crease when a disapproving Friar wrapped him in a headlock after the whistle to pick up a minor penalty. On his way to the penalty box, the skater was sent off for abuse of officials as the U-M power-play unit took the ice for its fifth opportunity. In addition, a bench minor penalty was assessed on the Providence bench to give U-M another 5x3 advantage.
Just over a minute later, it was Nazar once again from Truscott and McGroarty to make it 5-1 with 5:29 left in the contest. The sophomore set up shop in the left circle before the captain sent a pass into his wheelhouse.
Down by four with just under five minutes remaining in regulation, Providence rattled off a flurry of late goals. The Friars capitalized on a neutral-zone turnover when they scored with 3:17 left to make it 5-2 with a backhand flip that finished off a short breakaway. Six seconds after Dylan Duke was called for slashing, the Friars banged in another goal in with 1:45 left to cut the deficit to 5-3.
After failing to clear the defensive zone while Providence had the goaltender pulled, Michigan ceded a fourth goal with 58.8 seconds left that made it 5-4.
As time was ticking down, freshman forward Garrett Schifsky laid out to block a critical shot before time expired to seal Michigan's win and salvage a split.
McGroarty led all scorers with four points off of one goal and three assists. Nazar notched a two-goal game, and Casey extended his point streak to seven games with one goal and one assist to pace the defensive corps.
Next week, the Wolverines will head east to Amherst, Mass,. for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 13-14) at UMass. Both games at the Mullins Center are scheduled for 7 p.m., and the games will be streamed on ESPN+.
